‘Comedy of errors’ left me feeling odd

I was shocked to hear the sad news of David Bowie’s passing earlier this week. His music touched the lives of so many people, across the generations and all over the planet.

The king of the re–invention, he was still a relevant artist to this day. I remember hearing Space Oddity and Let’s Dance for the first time and it’s quite amazing to think he was still making his mark on the music industry all these years later. It was only last week he released his final album, Blackstar.

When the news broke on Monday, our TV screens and radios were filled with tributes to the musical icon. Fans organised a street party in his honour in his home town of Brixton. The whole world was alive with his memory.

The tributes continued over into Tuesday, with news of a memorial concert in New York being planned. Each of these tributes brought a lump to my throat as it was clear to see just how big an impact he had across the world.

When I sat down to watch Celebrity Big Brother on Tuesday, I was curious to see how Channel 5 would handle making the announcement to his ex-wife, Angie Bowie, who is currently a resident in the infamous house. I wondered if this was just too close to the bone for a show which is supposed to be entertaining.

What’s entertaining about the death of a family member?

She was told off camera, and any footage of her reaction was taken after the initial shock. House mates, David Gest and John Partridge were called to comfort her in the diary room and it was clear to see how taken aback they were when she told them her news.

When Angie was released back into the house, poor David Gest obviously felt the strain and took himself off to bed for a lie down. Which is when the “comedy of errors” began.

American reality star, Tiffany Pollard, learned of ‘David’s death’ and took it to mean David Gest, which sent her into hysteria. The confusion ended with Darren Day stripping poor David of his bed clothes to find him lying there snoozing.

It was absolute comedy gold, as it often is in the darkest of times but as hilarious as it was to watch, the unbelievable error did make me feel uncomfortable and as the day’s events unfolded, it should have been Angie who the attention was focused on. No matter how long it’s been since she spoke to her ex-husband, he was a huge part of her life and she is bound to feel incredible grief over his passing.

I just wonder if perhaps David Bowie might have had a chuckle to himself, watching the frenzied events take place.